Page 151 of Sinful Sacrifice

Kian nods. “I got you.”

“We’re prepared to do whatever is necessary,” Riona hurries out.

I scrub my hands together. “Let’s get started, then.”

51

A dead Cernach was a lovely sight.

If it hadn’t drawn suspicion, I’d have taken a picture of him lying there, lifeless-looking, like the corpse I always imagined him as.

It felt more satisfying than I’d thought it would.

I hate that I have to fake concern for his death.

To pretend I give two fucks about the piece of shit.

I wish he’d faced a more violent death since the motherfucker cost me a year of not having Pippa. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a smart plan. We needed something discreet, something we could easily pin on Odhrán.

People expect violence from me. After slaughtering the men responsible for my father’s death, I’m known for executing savage death sentences. I prefer to see blood when I’m killing a man—or at least administer a little venom into their veins. It’s so fun when they find out it’s inside them.

Plus, Ace gets offended when we don’t use his venom enough.

What kind of snake uncle would I be if I neglected him like that?

While I’d have loved to poison Cernach via Ace’s venom, Cernach wouldn’t have died from ingesting the venom. It would have had to be injected into his veins. Me standing behind him with a needle would have looked too obvious.

We needed Cernach’s death to be a show so people would demand his killer be punished. There was also the need to be sure that pinning it on Odhrán would be believable. Odhrán is known for his appreciation of poisoning his victims, so we used that to our advantage.

Riona did a great job with her acting skills.

She fell to her knees, sobbing, yelling for someone to help her father. She hugged him, screaming, “Why?”

I questioned her ability when I discovered she had written a damn nonfiction breakdown of how she wanted him to die, but she’s carrying through with her promise of not fucking up.

Odhrán immediately went into boss mode, throwing out demands. He told those not considered close family to leave and then directed all the men who had stayed behind to meet them at their place.

Their place was code for a back warehouse of their sanitation business property. Like a good almost husband, I stepped in when Odhrán tried stopping Riona from attending the meeting.

I stand to the side, toothpick in my mouth, as men make themselves comfortable at a long wood table with a Celtic cross carved in the middle.

Odhrán stands at the front of the room. “Cernach is gone.” He glances up at the ceiling and says, “Rest in peace, boss,” before positioning his stare on the group. “As his underboss, I’ll step up as boss.”

“Step up?” Riona questions, moving toward him. “As the only child in the Koglin bloodline, I succeed him, not you.”

Odhrán’s eyes flare. “The family ran by some young bitch?” he asks around a raspy huff.

“Call her a bitch one more time, and I’ll gut you,” I comment in a bored tone.

Odhrán’s cold gaze swings to me. “Oh, now, you want to play the dutiful husband? Cernach dying doesn’t mean you get out of the marriage contract. In fact, I suspect you have something to do with this since you don’t want this marriage with Riona.”

I peer at Riona. “Have I mentioned ending my contract with your family?”

Riona shakes her head. “Damien knows you don’t break contracts with Koglins without consequences, period.” She crosses her arms and steps side by side with Odhrán. “In fact, Damien swore he’d help me find my father’s killer.” She dramatically swipes away a tear from her cheek.

Kian bursts into the room, just as planned, and interrupts. A man dressed in a kitchen uniform is behind him. We paid Wayne five thousand dollars to lie for us.

“Let me guess,” Kian starts, working his jaw. “He’s trying to step up as boss.” He stares angrily at his father while shaking his head. “I didn’t want to believe it, Dad. I never thought you, out of all people, would turn on the family. That you’d be so disgusting and disloyal.”

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